This invention relates to a container that holds a marking substance, and is mounted to the wheel of a lawn or farm spreading device, to mark the path of the device across the ground.
When fertilizing or otherwise treating a field or lawn, it is desirable to fully cover the area, without skipping portions, or unduly overlapping portions. However, most spreaders have no means of marking the path of the spreader, which leaves the decision largely up to estimation or guesswork. Thus, there is the need to mark the path of a rolling wheel as it moves across the ground.
This invention contemplates a device which is attachable to the wheel or wheels of a rolling device such as a fertilizer, spreader, or other lawn, garden, or farm rolling device, to mark the path of the wheel(s). This helps to prevent harmful overlap, or missed strips, when the rolling device is used for its intended purpose. Since the device is easily mounted to a wheel, virtually any such rolling device can be retrofitted with the inventive device.
The device is a container (of virtually any shape) for containing a marking substance, preferably lime, which would be very visible on lawns and other earth surfaces. The container has an opening for letting the marking substance out of the container. Preferably, the opening is made adjustable in size, for example with a sliding gate covering the opening. The device is preferably mounted to the outside of a wheel by a convenient mounting means, preferably one or more Velcro straps fixed or coupled to the container, and passed partially around the wheel. Other mounting means could be used, for example elastic straps, bolts, or a bracket (possibly a two piece bracket, so that the device can be easily removed from the wheel).
In use, the container turns with the wheel, causing the opening to face downward once per revolution. The lime or other marking substance falls out at this time, leaving a series of small blobs or dashes along the wheel path. In order to increase the number of linear feet the device can cover before it must be refilled, the container can have an elongated shape projecting outward from the wheel. Also, one such container could be mounted to each wheel (or more than one, if the wheels are large), with only one opened at a time.